Chocolate Pavlova with Whipped Cream and Raspberries

Do you love show-stopping desserts? What about show-stopping desserts that are easy to make? Oh, I thought so.

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Meal Plan for December Week 3

This month, Summer Miller is back and excited to share her family’s meal plans for December. Happy holidays, everyone!

Some days dinner inspiration comes together without much thought, while others you stand at the kitchen counter blankly staring to a cupboard full of ingredients with no idea what to pull together.

Not to worry, we’ve all been there.

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How to Incorporate Ham Into Holiday Appetizers

Ham is a staple on holiday tables throughout many parts of the world. It’s a crowd-pleaser that’s elegant enough to crown a holiday feast yet approachable enough to entice even the most finicky holiday guest. It’s also a substantial amount of meat that virtually always results in leftovers which makes it perfect to transform into appetizers for your next round of holiday feasting.

The reason why the iconic ham graces the holiday table is not an arbitrary one. Its significance is frequently attributed to the Germanic god Freyr, a pagan deity associated with fertility and an abundant harvest along with the wild boar. During ancient holiday feasts, a boar would be sacrificed as a tribute to Freyr. It was often only the boar’s head that was placed at the center of the banquet table, complete with a roasted apple in its mouth.

Many of Freyr’s attributes were later applied to Saint Stephen in Britain, including the appearance of the ham on the holiday table, especially on Dec. 26 which is the saint’s feast day across the pond. During Victorian times, when mince meat and Christmas puddings were required staples, ham was often glazed in honey, resulting in a crispy caramelized crust.

Ham will most likely always be a fundamental feature of holiday parties throughout Europe and America. It evokes memories of festive celebrations and preserves traditions that are so critical to keeping our rituals alive. Holiday appetizers are an ideal vehicle for ham. Here are a few recipes to kick off the meal at your next holiday gathering. Happy feasting!

Holiday Tortilla Pinwheels

From Valerie’s Kitchen

This is a simple recipe with minimal ingredients that can be made ahead of time and has a fun retro look to it. Ham is rolled into tortillas along with cream cheese, cranberries, feta, sour cream, and onions before the rolls are sliced into colorful segments resembling pinwheels. Mix up the color palette by selecting green and red tortillas that will not only provide additional flavor but an infusion of holiday color too. Get the recipe.

Caramelized Pineapple, Ham, and Cheese Turnovers

Half Baked Harvest

It’s virtually guaranteed that not a single turnover will remain at the end of your ham-filled holiday party. These are so addictive with their flaky, buttery puff pastry shell wrapped around ham, melted Swiss cheese, and sweet caramelized pineapple that a double batch is recommended. They can be made ahead of time and baked just before the festivities begin. The result is an elegant appetizer that will become a new staple beloved by everyone gathered around your holiday table. Get the recipe.

Ham and Cheese Quiche Bites

The Farm Girl Gabs

Brunch was made for ham appetizers and these sweet ham and cheese bites are distinguished enough to grace the holiday brunch table yet simple enough to make ahead of time. Wonton wrappers form the base for a silky bite of quiche speckled with flecks of scallions and ham bound together by a handful of cheddar cheese. Get the recipe.

Ham and Turkey Club Sliders

Bread Booze Bacon

Sliders are the perfect vehicle for leftover holiday ham. These three-bite crowd pleasers feature melted provolone cheese along with ham and smoked turkey tucked into buttery rolls slicked with mayonnaise and spicy mustard along with a dash of garlic powder and dried parsley. They’re the perfect enticements to gather the family around after a holiday game of touch football or to keep energy up during a demanding gift wrapping (or unwrapping) session. Get the recipe.

Three-Ingredient Ham and Cheese Rollups

The Comfort of Cooking

It’s hard to believe that this addictive appetizer features only three ingredients but apparently, when ham and cheese meets freshly baked bread along with a side of spicy dipping mustard, nothing more is required. This easy recipe can be made ahead of time and baked just before the holiday fun begins. The aroma of baked bread will fill your home with cozy comfort long before this loaf filled with cheesy-porky flavor arrives at your holiday table. Get the recipe.

Gluten-Free Honey Baked Ham and Potato Empanadas

Cotter Crunch

Invite a little South American flavor to your holiday table with these tasty empanadas filled with creamy potatoes and honey baked ham. They’re the kind of appetizer that your family will never tire of so make a few batches and serve them to kick off a meal or whenever an extra dose of holiday spirit is required. Get the recipe.

For more tips, hacks, and recipes, check out our Ultimate Guide to Christmas and Holiday Entertaining Headquarters.

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Everything You Need to Know About Olive Garden’s Wine List

 

If you’re like me, the words “Olive Garden” conjure visions of never-ending breadsticks and heaping bowls of an iceberg blend. It might not be the first, second, or tenth restaurant that springs to your mind when you think celebrating with a nice bottle of wine. But it turns out that the Italian-inspired concept might just run one of the most important wine programs in the country. Skeptical? Hear me out.

In 2016, the OG was one of the top-selling table service restaurant chains in the country, second only to Applebee’s. Across over 840 locations, the brand welcomes millions of guests each year—some who know their Chardonnays from their Chenin Blancs, but many others who are brand new to the world of wine. Due to their broad audience base, the Olive Garden faces two unique challenges: serving as an oenology ambassador to wine newbies and curating an accessible list for a vast variety of palates.

As I started doing some research, I quickly realized that, like their salad and breadsticks, the reach of Olive Garden’s wine program is virtually limitless. So in order to gain a more thorough understanding, I enlisted the help of several wine experts, including Olive Garden’s director of beverage strategy herself, to help me understand the list’s composition, pricing, and overall philosophy.

Aside from a few regional offerings, I learned that the wine list is uniform across all of the brand’s American outposts. Unsurprisingly, the options are primarily Italian, with a few representatives from California and Washington State and one recently added Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. When I reviewed the list with Jamie Wolff, a partner at New York City’s Chambers Street Wines, he noted that, “Italy is one of the world’s biggest producers, by volume, of wine, and a lot of the volume is represented by some of these names—like Cavit, which is a very interesting, very large cooperative.” I also spoke with Tom Geniesse, founder and owner of the Flatiron District’s Bottlerocket Wine & Spirit. He elaborated on this point. “The challenge of having a national chain requires making choices which can be distributed nationally,” he explained. “And our country is such a strange patchwork of regulations. Not every wine is available in every state. Therefore, there is a little bit more of a national brand or private label presence on this list as opposed to what one might see at a local Italian restaurant. It can’t be a list that’s filled with tiny itty bitty producers from obscure regions because they can’t feed that large demand for this very large organization.”

Olive Garden

“It’s nice that they didn’t forget to include a couple of very important wines from Italy for those that want to splurge a little bit,” added Geniesse. He was referring to the $75 bottle of Col d’Orcia Brunello and $130 bottle of Bertane Amarone, the two most expensive bottles on the list. But with the exception of those two options and the Porta Vita signature line, all of the bottles are priced at $40 or less. “There’s a real focus on the value here,” observed KaMar Gomez, wine buyer at Brooklyn’s Smith & Vine. “It looks like they’re working pretty much along the same sort of standard markup that restaurants do, which is the wines tend to be roughly three times what you might see in retail. They understand that to move bottles, why not price them economically?”

Now I knew the “what” and the “how much.” Next, it was time to find out the “why” behind it all. Robyn Albert, Olive Garden’s director of beverage strategy, walked me through the philosophy behind the list, which I’ve distilled into three main points.

1. Give Guests What They Know and Love

Designed to guide guests toward a selection that will suit their fancy, the wine list is divided into easy-to-understand categories like “Fruity & Sweet” and “Light & Crisp.” But beyond the menu, servers are trained to inquire about guests’ tastes rather than simply recommending their personal favorites. And then there’s the element of the wine program that creates brand new wines in response to consumer preferences. For example, after witnessing the runaway popularity of moscato, the Olive Garden developed a darker counterpart, dubbed roscato, “to help our guests continue to explore the world of wine but on the red side.” Since its debut in 2011, roscato has become one of the restaurant’s top sellers and has made the leap to grocery store shelves. Or take the case of the Head to Head red, a custom blend designed with millennial consumers in mind. “The fun story behind it is that the owner of Rocca delle Macie happens to have two children that are in the business that are both millennials,” Albert explained. “They had a little fun competition amongst each other to develop what this final blend was going to be. And Julia won, so it’s a wine that was actually created by a female millennial for our millennial consumers specifically. And our guests love it.”

Olive Garden

2. Expand Guests’ Horizons

The Olive Garden wants you to be comfortable. But like your well-meaning family, they also want to lovingly push you toward your (wine-drinking) potential, which they accomplish in a few ways. First, if you weren’t previously acquainted with the OG’s sampling program, get hip to this: guests are welcome to try a free sample of any wine on the list. “It makes it really approachable,” said Albert, “and makes people feel very comfortable ordering something that they’ve never tried before because they can taste it first.”

Additionally, each category on the list contains a range of wines to help guide guests from familiar standbys to new choices that possess similar characteristics. “Having an off-dry Riesling is a good and interesting choice,” observed Bottlerocket’s Mr. Geniesse. “It’s a way for people who would perhaps normally have a moscato or muscat-based sweet wine to hop into what I would say is a category of world class wines that are also a little bit sweet. It’s a nice way to present a choice like that.”

3. “Food+Wine=An Experience”

Another core tenet of the Olive Garden beverage philosophy is that wine is the yin to food’s yang. The wine list is “intended to complement our food offerings and create a total experience for our guests,” said Albert. This takes shape in the form of pairing suggestions printed in the menu. Additionally, servers go through extensive training in which “they actually have to present and understand which wines go well with our food entrees and which ones complement the dishes.”

While a meal can serve as inspiration for a pairing, there’s no right or wrong answer to wine selection at the Olive Garden. At the end of the day, Ms. Albert sees her job as “all about making people happy.” With annual sales exceeding the equivalent of 400,000 cases, I’d wager that the Olive Garden wine list certainly delivers daily happiness to thousands of people at breadstick-topped tables from sea to shining sea.

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Christmas Candy Recipes with 6 Ingredients or Less

The weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday are filled with plenty of parties and get-togethers, so what are you going to bring the host? These six-ingredient-or-less candy recipes are the answer to an easy and homemade gift. Plus, many of these candies keep for a few weeks; simply double the batch and store in the fridge for the next occasion to come around. Classic candies like peppermint, peanut brittle, and fudge come together with only a few ingredients and only take a little bit of time and love to make. Check out the recipes for easy Christmas candy, from quintessential Peppermint Patties to festive Christmas Chocolate Truffles.

Homemade Peppermint Patties

Oh Nuts Blog

Mint is so classically Christmas—it’s fresh and bright flavor cuts through the decadence of quality dark chocolate. If you’re looking to really punch up the holiday flair, add some red or green food coloring to the minty center. Get the recipe.

Christmas Caramels

Simply Whisked

Forget the cookies! These easy homemade caramels are exactly what Santa is looking for. Wrap these treats in waxed paper for easy storing and gifting. Get the recipe.

Homemade Holiday Lollipops

Just a Taste

Looking for a last-minute treat to fill up the stockings? These simple lollipops are made with just three ingredients: water, sugar, and a few sprinkles! The only specialty item you’re going to need is the lollipop stick, found at most craft stores. Get the recipe.

Peanut Brittle

Layers of Happiness

Peanut brittle may be old school, but it sure is delicious! This retro candy tastes even better when it comes out of your own kitchen—break off pieces and store in pretty gift tins for an easy present. Get the recipe.

Chocolate Caramel Marshmallows

Domestically Blissful

Candy doesn’t have to be complicated. These marshmallow treats are made from three store-bought ingredients, and you can even get creative with the extra sprinkles. Go with sea salt for a grown-up twist, or stick with everyone’s favorite: chocolate sprinkles. Get the recipe.

Candy Cane Meringues Kisses

Wallflower Kitchen

Meringues are so sweet and satisfying, but they do take a little skill and a candy thermometer. These cloud-like candies are made from whipped meringue, ribboned with peppermint, and hardened in a warm oven until ready for packaging. Get the recipe.

Homemade Christmas Gumdrops

Mom on Time Out

When’s the last time you had a gumdrop? Skip the store-bought and set out a bowl of homemade gummy treats. These candies get their texture from no-sugar-added applesauce and a little color from packaged Jell-O! Get the recipe.

2-Ingredient Christmas Fudge

Belly Full

Get creative with color combinations with this classic fudge recipe. These sugary treats use frosting and white chocolate melting candies to make the basic batter. Divide into three bowls, dye with food coloring, and layer as you wish! Get the recipe.

Peanut Butter Cup Christmas Trees

One Little Project

These adorable treats have exactly zero baking or cooking time—ideal for getting the kids involved! Simply stack pre-made candies with sturdy royal icing to decorate these mini Christmas trees. Get the recipe.

3-Ingredient Christmas Candies

Chelsea’s Messy Apron

This candy recipe could not be easier. Two mini candy canes touch to form a heart and are filled with delicious white chocolate! Garnish with festive sprinkles to jazz up the presentation. Get the recipe.

Peppermint Oreo Truffles

Handle the Heat

Oreo cookies are crushed and mixed with cream cheese to make the most delicious truffle filling ever. Simply dip the chilled balls into melted chocolate and garnish with crushed candy canes for a super simple treat. Get the recipe.

Christmas Chocolate Truffles

Lord Byron’s Kitchen

These truffles require a little bit of cooking, but the decadent centers make it all worth it. Set the truffles into mini muffin liners and into small gift boxes for a thoughtful present idea. Get the recipe.

For more tips, hacks, and recipes, check out our Ultimate Guide to Christmas and Holiday Entertaining Headquarters.

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